Base for a shed.

I'm planning on buying a shed and summerhouse online, and had been intending on siting them on a solid concrete base. Now the total cost for the garden is going too high and I'm wondering if the concrete bases are a luxury I can do without???

Unfortunately I know NOTHING about the subject but I know you guys do :-) I'd be so grateful for any suggestions for alternatives.

FYI the shed / summerhouse are:

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Make sure the ground is level and solid. Don't dig it over to make it look nice :-(( If you need to level it, skim the high bits and trample them into the lower bits.

Lay 3 x 3 (75 mm x 75mm) timbers, well preserved on bricks and lay the shed on that. You can do the final levelling up with bits of damp proof felt or bits of slates.

That is how mine was done for me in September 1986 and it is as good as gold 'EXCEPT', I didn't firm the ground where I had made it up and one end of the shed a 10 ft x 8 ft has dipped just a little.

Make sure there is a good air gap under and that you can get to the underneath with a cane or stick to clear rats and or mice nests out.

You only need a concrete base if that is going to be the floor. And they are cold :-((

Mike

-- H.M.S.Collingwood Ass. Llandudno 20 - 23 May Trip to Portmeirion National Service (RAF) Ass. Cosford 24 - 27 June Spitfire Fly Past H.M.S.Impregnable Ass. Sussex 1 - 4 July Visit to Int. Fest of the Sea RAF Regiment Assoc. Scarborough 2 - 5 Sept. Visit to Eden Camp

Reply to
Mike

FWIW, our sheds here are not visible from the garden and are tucked away on the back end of the nursery BUT they are on breeze blocks - levelled off, of course but that's it. I think that not only practicality but appearance has a good deal to do with your decision.

Reply to
Sacha

One end of the shed dipping is just fine megooves. A shed in which you can drop a marble and have it stay put, without having the marble first collide with stationary tqt, would be disturbing to me.

Reply to
Tofino

[...]

Err, you haven't visited ye Shedde before, have you...

Reply to
Sena

Going to the pub? Laying on the sofa and having a very hard think about it?

That's all my alternatives used up I'm afraid.

Reply to
Whitedog

Get a "Bearers" pack. Then dig an area that is 3 inches wider and longer than the shed. Go down about 2 inches and level/pack the ground. Finally spread some 5-10mm gravel and make it level with the grass. Level/pack it and lay the "bearers" down onto the gravel. Then pop your shed onto the bearers.

I did this to the kids playhouse (a converted 8x6 shed) and it has been rock solid for the last 3 years.

FWIW I did a concreate base for my workshop (12 x 15) and it was the hardest 5 days work I have ever had to do. If I had the choice I would not do a concrete bases again.

HTH

Harry

Reply to
Harry

This is fine for place that don't get even moderate wind. Otherwise you may find that this happens:

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Bear in mind that there is, er was, an eves level wall right against one side of the shed and a 2'6" high one against the end. Not many gardens get the full whack of an F7 or F8 though (sustained wind speed over upper 30's low 40's mph).

Now trying to think of cheap and easy was of stopping it happening again, 5 years ago we lost the roof. That landed on the wall the far side of the road behind the shed in the above picture. But that was in a real storm, F10 (>50mph sustained, gusting to to upper 60's mph).

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

4 bags of sand inside the shed (one at each corner) 2 nylon straps over the top of the shed and tie the end of each strap to a bag of sand or a rock.

LOL

Reply to
Harry

This is very helpful

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Reply to
SH

grass.

Otherwise

against

strap

Or set the shed on a concrete-block base (no absolute need for mortar), and drill, plug, and screw (brass for choice) into the blocks. The blocks can be dug in, or just sit on a prepared surface

I lost (very dangerously) a shed roof in the hurricane, but that was my own fault for fixing the sheets too lightly. I think the kind of roof you get with sheds you buy should have fixings at right angles to one another so it can neither lift nor shift.

Reply to
Mike Lyle

I used 3 old railway sleepers coated in used engine oil. Made sure they were level and as I built the shed i screwed the base down to each of the sleepers. Never a problem

Steve

Reply to
Steve

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